"dr. ldmf [ph.d, j.d.]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Kathy, this 'triangulation' to third party 'virtual-suspect' seems
designer-designed for "reasonable doubt." OTOH who knows. It will be
interesting to see how this works out. :) LDMF.
------------------------Kathy E wrote:-------------------------------
> (too soon to snip)
> Kathy E <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>
> Day three of the murder trial of Reco Jones saw the defense for the
> first time in front of the jury accuse one of the defendant's former
> girlfriends, Maliaka Martin, of being the person responsible for the
> deaths of Yolanda Bellamy, her two young sons and her young niece and
> nephew.
>
> Defense attorney John McWilliams resumed his cross-examination of Martin
> and suggested that Yolanda was more attractive to Jones because she
> already had children and Martin did not. He went further, asking her if
> she believed Reco would go to prison if he was caught, and thus become a
> ``captive audience'' for her. Martin intended to show the jury Martin
> would be happier with Jones in prison and not free to chase other women.
> When he asked Martin if she had heard that Yolanda and Jones were
> planning to wed, she replied that she had not. Finally, McWilliams
> stated that Jones had come to Martin's home about 6:30 a.m. on Aug. 13
> to confront her over what she had done at Yolanda's. Martin said that
> that was not true, denying all responsibility for the murders.
>
> Later in the morning, Jones's friend, Tamika Terrell, took the stand to
> say Jones and Martin showed up at her house hours after the murder about
> 7:30 a.m. and asked her to both help them get rid of some of Jones's
> clothes and bloody gym shoes and return to Bellamy's house to make sure
> the front door handle was wiped clean of his fingerprints.
>
> But Terrell did not have a washing machine. Jones then asked her to get
> rid of the clothes, which were in a plastic bag. Terrell said she
> questioned Jones further about why he needed disposal of the clothes.
> Martin, Terrell said, told her Jones ``took care of Yolanda.'' Jones
> went further and said he eliminated Yolanda and ``cut the f--- out of
> her.'' Terrell said she did not believe him. She said she saw a paper
> bag in the trunk of Jones's mother's car that he was driving that
> morning. Jones, she said, told her the bag contained the knife he used
> and that he was going to throw it in a river or lake. Terrell said she
> then burned his clothes and blood-splattered gym shoes in a metal
> garbage can her family used for burning trash.
>
> There is a question over what clothes Jones was wearing after the
> murders. Martin testified previously that Jones showed up at her house
> wearing denim shorts and a t-shirt. Terrell said the clothes she burned
> included a hooded sweat jacket and sweat pants and apparently the same
> gym shoes described by Martin. McWilliams was using a photo of Martin
> wearing a hooded sweatshirt quite a bit during Monday's testimony.
> Prosecutor Kevin Simowski suggested in questioning that Jones switched
> clothes and put them into the bag for disposal when he went to the trunk
> of his car.
>
> Terrell said she then accompanied Martin and Jones back to Bellamy's
> house, and that she got out of the car and wiped the handle of the front
> screen door to ensure there were no fingerprints. This, she said, took
> about 30 seconds. Terrell did not tell police what she knew for four
> days, and only after Martin gave police her name.
>
> During cross-examination, McWilliams carefully asked Terrell if she had
> misheard what Jones said about killing Yolanda. Was it possible,
> McWilliams asked, that Jones said ``Kia'' (Maliaka Martin's nickname,
> pronounced like "pie") cut the f--- out of Yolanda? Terrell conceded
> that that was possible. She acknowledged that ``I'' and ``Kia'' sound
> alike. On redirect, however, prosecutor Simowski got Terrell to agree
> that there was no misunderstanding.
>
> Jurors also heard testimony from the Janet Jones, the mother of Reco
> Jones. Her testimony showed that she could not account for Reco between
> the hours of 4 a.m. and 8 a.m., when she was asleep. She said she woke
> up at 8 a.m. to find her Chrysler LeBaron gone. Mrs. Jones said it was
> not unusual for Reco to use her car. She testified that Yolanda came to
> her house about 11 p.m. the previous night and was upset. Because of
> Yolanda's demeanor, this witness would not allow her to confront Reco,
> who was inside the house. She told Reco to stay in the basement.
> Finally, Jones said, she called 911 to complain that Yolanda would not
> leave.
>
> Yolanda Bellamy ultimately left on her own. Jones also said Maliaka
> Martin lived in her household for a few years up until June of 1996. She
> said Martin acted ``hostile'' toward children who interacted with Reco,
> and that Martin acted ``jealous'' toward Reco's own siblings. The
> prosecutor held up the knife believed to be similar to the murder
> weapon--a Ginsu knife. He asked her if that knife resembled one she had
> in her home at one time. She said that it did.
>
> Jeffrey Jones, the defendant's uncle and one of the police
> investigators, was also called to the stand. He was working Aug. 13 with
> a special quick reaction unit aimed at grabbing suspects off the street
> quickly. He heard a call from another precinct that there was a subject
> named Reco wanted for five fatal assaults who drive a burgundy BMW. This
> witness admitted to prosecutor Simowski that he knew the description of
> the suspect matched his nephew, and he headed toward his sister's
> Janet's house. Janet had just spoken with Reco when Jeffrey arrived at
> her house. She told him that Reco was headed to the restaurant for lunch
> with his barber. Jeffrey said he and his fellow officers then arrested
> Reco.
>
> Interestingly, Simowski had impeach Jeffrey Jones about alleged
> statements his nephew made at the time of his arrest. The police officer
> said he told Reco that his girlfriend had been killed. Reco replied,
> ``Who?'' and according to Jeffrey, said a name that sounded unusual. But
> the officer said he could not remember the name. Simowski seemed
> unconvinced, wondering aloud how Jeffrey Jones could not remember such a
> name while investigating a murder with five victims. Jeffrey Jones also
> maintained that he knew that the five victims were stabbed to death
> before he assisted in the arrest of his nephew, a claim that would be
> disputed by another officer.
>
> The final witness called for the day was another investigating officer,
> Sgt. Arlie Lovier. He said he arrived at the Bellamy home around noon.
> (The first officer at the scene broke down the front door around 11:10
> a.m.) Lovier, who was given 30 days off in the wake of the grisly murder
> scene, said it was the worst crime scene he witnessed in 24 years with
> the Detroit Police Department. Lovier became visibly shaken recounting
> the murder scene and the autopsies that followed. He said he immediately
> called for doctors to examine the victims and that he did not know for
> sure the victims were stabbed to death until after two doctors examined
> the victims' bodies.
>
> Lovier said the presence of so much blood prevented an immediate
> determination of what caused the wounds. In contradiction to Jeffrey
> Jones's previous testimony, Lovier said that only the senior department
> commanders were informed of the cause of death that day, and that they
> were not told until after 2 p.m. No other officers should have known the
> victims were stabbed. Lovier will return to the stand for
> cross-examination when testimony resumes Tuesday morning.
one person a day, today is NOT your day, and tomorrow
> isn't looking too good for you either"
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